NEW DELHI: Even as the fight to get justice for jailed former Indian navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav is continued by New Delhi, the government on Wednesday said that there are 75 missing Indian defence personnel, including 54 prisoners of war, who are believed to be in Pakistan's custody.
In a reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh maintained that, however, the presence of these missing Indians has not been acknowledged so far by Pakistan.
The Former army chief informed Parliament that as of July 27, there are 417 fishermen in Pakistan's custody and 15 fishermen in Sri Lanka's custody, who are believed to be Indian nationals.
"In case of Pakistan, consular access is awaited and information about the states that they belong to is not available. In case of Sri Lanka, the 15 fishermen are believed to be from Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry," Singh said.
Meanwhile in response to another question on the issue, a junior minister in the MEA said the government regularly takes up with Sri Lanka and Pakistan the matter of early release and repatriation of Indian fishermen and fishing boats.